He agreed to work with his new party leader John Briceno – but tonight, it seems Francis Fonseca has had a profound change of heart – and it’s all about the national convention on Sunday in Orange Walk.
Last night we told you about Briceno’s plan to have the convention to install a new executive. This will purge the current executive of Musa/Fonseca loyalists such as Ralph Fonseca, Godfrey Smith and Yasser Musa, among others – who were expected to resign, but now seem intent on serving out their terms until 2009. Briceno will offer a slate to replace them with his loyalists Eamon Courtenay, Dan Silva, Amalia Mai and Narda Garcia. And, we also told you that Briceno’s plan was met with widespread approbation and outrage in the Party’s old guard – so much so that they have threatened a boycott of the convention.
The man in the middle of it all is Francis Fonseca. 310 delegates, 48% of those voting, supported him at a national convention 9 days ago – and he straddles both worlds. He was the old guard’s candidate and he is now being offered a senior post in Briceno’s executive that will be elected on Sunday.
So which bridge will he cross and which will he burn? Well ever the loyalist, Fonseca has – it seems – decided to burn the Briceno bridge. This afternoon, he sent Briceno a letter warning him that his convention on Sunday is, “wholly, even ostentatiously, unconstitutional.” And with that he rejects Briceno’s offer of the post of Chairman; he writes, “I feel unable to serve under such conditions.”
Fonseca goes unto explain that to remove the current national executive would be “unlawful” and “a betrayal of the reform platform.” In closing, Fonseca asks Briceno to reconsider, and at least have a meeting of the National Executive before Sunday’s convention.
Of course, that national executive is still controlled by the Musa/Fonseca axis and it seems a fair prognostication that they would not support Briceno – thus sending him into the convention with a black eye – which underscores why the new leader is in such a hurry to change that executive.
So what’s the bottom line in all this political jostling? Well, first of all, there will be a boycott of at least 4 solid divisions on Sunday; those are Fort George, Pickstock, Belize Rural Central, and Freetown. Toledo East and West are likely to join that, as are Queen’s Square, Mesopotamia and Corozal Southeast, and possibly Belize Rural North. If all those do boycott, it will be a sign of pronounced division and a definite dampener on Briceno’s hometown coronation, but nothing to meaningfully challenge or undermine his leadership in the short term. But in the long term, some say that it could erode his hold on power and ultimately, hurt the party’s electability.
